Not Even Me
by PrincessBellePrinceAdam
Summary: [Operation Overdrive] A very jealous Mack decides no one is good enough for his Rose, not even him.  Rock oneshot.


Dedication: For Mandi96, just because she rocks. Literally.

**Not Even Me**

"Tell her she can't go, Dad," Mack Hartford implored, following his father as the older man moved through the underground base. "Tell her that no one on the team is allowed to date because of what happened to Dax with Miratrix."

"I'm not going to do that, Mack," Andrew replied. "I highly doubt some guy Rose met in a book store is evil like Miratrix is. And Rose is a smart girl, Mack. She can take care of herself."

"But really, Dad, he can't be good enough for her. Tell Rose that she can't go out on the date and I'll wash the zords for the next two months all by myself."

"I'm not telling her anything, Mack. She's an adult; she can make her own decisions. As long as Rose keeps up with her work and keeps to the house curfew, she can go out every night if she wants to."

"Dad," Mack groaned, "Please? I'm begging you here. I really don't want Rose going out with-"

"Anyone but you?" Andrew finished. "It's not Rose's fault that you can't tell her how you feel about her. She deserves to be happy too, Mack. The best thing I can do is talk to the guy when he comes to pick her up and threaten him with you and the other guy rangers if he hurts her."

"Well, that makes me feel a little bit better," Mack huffed. "Make sure that you do talk to him and remind him who he'll have to deal with." The red ranger stomped up the stairs back to the main house.

He was met by the object of his affections, one Rose Ortiz. His breath caught in his throat upon seeing her so…well, perfect.

She was decked casually in a pink T-shirt and a denim skirt that hit mid thigh, her dark hair pulled into a high ponytail. "Hi Mack," she greeted, sounding very happy.

"Hi," Mack replied, knowing he was staring at her and that it was probably a look full of longing. _'Stupid, stupid, Mack. She's your best friend, not to mention your teammate. Stop gawking.'_

Rose looked a little nervous. "Is something wrong, Mack? You look kind of funny. Maybe you should lie down or something." She took a few steps closer, one hand held out as if to check his temperature.

Of course, fate seemed to be frowning on Mack at that moment in time, and the doorbell rang at that exact second. Rose grinned, forgetting all about Mack. "He's here!"

"I'll get the door for you," Mack said, dead set on making this guy know who was boss around here. He opened the door and stepped out onto the porch with the unwelcome intruder in his plans to win Rose's heart.

"Hi, I'm Alex," the other guy began, holding out a hand for Mack to shake. Mack ignored this, staring hard at Alex. The intruder was about the same height he was, with light blue eyes and an unruly mop of brown curls. _'At least I know my looks aren't the problem.'_

"I'll make this very clear," Mack said slowly, "Rose is my best friend and if I ever find out that you hurt her I will hunt you down. Got it?"

The carbon copy blinked. "I don't intend to do anything to hurt Rose. She's a nice girl. I like her." Mack could only glare.

"Whatever," he grunted. He poked his head back into the mansion. "Rose, your date's here!" Mack yelled unnecessarily. Rose practically skipped down the hall to the door. Mack wanted to kick something until she stopped beside him momentarily and pressed a very swift kiss to his cheek.

Mack watched the intruder wrap his arm around Rose's shoulders and lead her out to his car. "I hate him," Mack whispered fiercely. He took his jacket from the hall closet and picked up his car keys.

"Where are you going?" Ronny asked from behind him. "You look like you're ready to kill someone."

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't try anything with Rose," Mack grumbled. "He looked pretty shifty to me." Ronny had the nerve to laugh.

"Don't try to ruin her date, Mack; she'll hate you if you do. That's not the way to get to her heart."

Mack ignored this and stormed out of the house.

He just managed to catch up to Alex's car. He could see Rose in the light of the streetlamps. She appeared to be laughing. Mack hated to admit it, but he was very jealous.

The green eyed monster had taken over the red ranger. He followed Rose and his doppelganger to the movie theater. Alex bought tickets for the current romantic comedy. Mack snorted. Rose would never go for that.

Hating himself for stooping to such a level, Mack bought a ticket for the same movie and stalked the other two inside. He ignored the pitying look the salesgirl gave him.

Rose and Alex were standing near the snack counter. Rose was in the process of pulling her wallet from her purse, presumably to buy something to eat for the two of them. Mack saw Alex shake his head and take out his own wallet. Rose beamed.

She flounced across the room to a small table and sat down. Mack sat at the table behind hers, staring longingly at the back of her petite figure. Well, if he couldn't have Rose then no one could.

His clone arrived at Rose's side then, a tray of popcorn and candies between his hands. Mack saw Rose smile again. He felt very ready to do terrible things to Rose's date.

For the next hour and a half, Mack alternately glared at Alex's back and looked at Rose. His eyes softened when they were on the pink ranger. Oh, how Mack hated Alex, especially when he had the nerve to put his arm around Rose's shoulders.

When the movie was over, Mack followed Alex and Rose to a small, quiet park. As if it weren't enough that Alex had put his arm around Rose's shoulders, now he was clutching Rose's delicate hand. Mack punched a tree trunk out of pure frustration. There was a satisfying crunching sound, no doubt due to his strength.

Alex had stopped beside a small creek that ran through the park and was now leaning against a weeping willow, Rose wound in his arms. He was close, much too close for Mack's liking. Mack wanted to 'happen' to go by to break up the entwined couple, but what Ronny had said rang in his head.

Mack couldn't stand to watch this any longer. He slunk through the park, defeated by this intruder. When Mack arrived at his car he turned the stereo up as loud as it would go so he wouldn't have to think about anything.

Once at home, the red ranger flopped onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. Ten minutes later he heard footsteps in the hall. Very angry footsteps. The door to his room swung open, hitting the wall.

"Mackenzie Hartford," Rose seethed, "I cannot believe you. You _stalked_ me when I was on a _date_ with a guy who I really like. Explain." Rose was trembling with rage. Mack had never seen her so angry.

"Rose," Mack said, "Calm down. I just wanted to see if he deserved you. I really wanted to be able to say that he didn't, but from what I saw he was really nice to you."

"Yeah, he was. He treated me very well. But you, Mack-" she stabbed a finger into his chest- "My best friend didn't trust me to be alone with a guy. What were you thinking?"

"I trust you, Rose, it's him that I didn't like. I guess I was just… jealous."

"Jealous?" Rose repeated. "Of Alex? It was just a date, Mack, it's not like I was going to marry him. Why on earth would you be jealous of him?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Rose? I…I…I kindamaybeloveyou."

Rose's eyes widened. "What? Can I have that last bit again?"

Mack took a deep breath and pulled her onto the bed with him. "Rose, listen. You're the total package: Intelligent, beautiful, caring, not to mention that you can do some serious damage if you choose to. I don't think anyone deserves all of that, not even me, and I think I've loved you since the day we met."

"Oh Mack…" Rose reached for his hands, holding both of them in her own delicate ones, "Mack, why didn't you tell me sooner? I never would have gone out with Alex if I had any idea you felt that way about me. I thought you'd never be interested in me like that. Alex was just to prove to myself that there could be other people for me. He was nice but he doesn't mean half as much to me as you do."

Rose pushed Mack down flat on his back and cuddled next to him, pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and closed her eyes. Mack grinned at his pink ranger and wrapped his arms around her, finally at ease with his own feelings.


End file.
